


The Alpha

by FourSeasons



Series: Oneshots 2020-2021 [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Childhood Friends, Friendship, Harry Potter Epilogue What Epilogue | EWE, Hogsmeade, Minor Violence, Other, Peace, Werewolf Lavender Brown
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-23
Updated: 2020-10-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:20:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27160387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FourSeasons/pseuds/FourSeasons
Summary: An Alpha's loyalty is to the Pack and their needs, no matter what action is required by the Alpha to fulfil those needs. Lavender is a werewolf Alpha who just wants her Packs to live in peace.
Relationships: Lavender Brown & Hermione Granger, Lavender Brown & Parvati Patil
Series: Oneshots 2020-2021 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1982503





	The Alpha

_"Evil is Evil. Lesser, greater, middling… Makes no difference. The degree is arbitrary. The definition's blurred. If I'm to choose between one evil and another… I'd rather not choose at all." - Andrzej Sapkowski_

The rap section was messy and Lavender loved it. The pit of music, the flashing lights, and people all around her. Many of them were screaming the lyrics and Lavender turned to the person next to her as if to make sure they were having fun though. The hazy smoke and taste of the air, those were now moments of home.

Home was in other people's arms or under the full moon. Lavender had no roots and couldn't be bothered with setting any down. The scars had changed her very DNA, that was not an exaggeration. They had a term for it in the werewolf community: the Greyback effect.

The world told Lavender she was supposed to be grateful. To be honest, Lavender didn't know how to be grateful for the bite. The bite made her feel alive.

Was that enough in a world that hated her?

The honest answer was that it wouldn't. Werewolf rights didn't _magically_ get better after the war. Minister Shacklebolt had better things to worry about. Lavender wouldn't blame him. She just wanted the world to give her enough patience to see beyond the scars that lined her face.

In the moments of music, Lavender felt like a war hero. When she woke up the next morning, none of that was there. Just the scarred face of a girl that used to be pretty. Lavender didn't mind being a werewolf so much. She loved the healing factor, she liked how she could go running for hours on end without feeling like she was dying, and Lavender liked that it reminded her of the War. Of the people she owed it to, to keep living.

The band announced its final set and lighters went up in the air. A slow lament bathed in sadness and Lavender found herself singing the words very badly. The wolf inside of her didn't like the concerts so much, so she made sure to subject it to the sounds every night. Somehow, even the wolf calmed down at the slowness of the last song. Lavender was sure if it was the full moon, it would have howled to the words too.

Lavender slowly collected herself after the concert ended. Her feet hurt, but she felt happy. That momentary, fleeting kind of happiness that went as easily as it came. There was a hand that held onto hers. Lavender had every intention of letting it go. She didn't, but she did kiss the top of the person's head the next morning and wrote a note as she sneaked out, while the stars still twinkled.  
The Hog's Head Inn was the same, and Lavender looked at her watch. The watch mimicked the lunar cycle, the moon wasn't so clear some nights in the city, it helped Lavender keep herself in check. They were late. This meeting took place once a week, and Lavender was already going out of her way to be here. In Hogsmeade, she was judged for the marks on her face; The Hog's Head catered to the tastes of the slightly-damned and damaged.

Besides, Aberforth didn't judge her too harshly for sitting in the corner with the Hags and Seers to place bets on sporting events. Those minutes looking into a crystal ball made Lavender ache for what could have been. The Bite had taken away her abilities as a Seer. The very little she did possess seemed to be clouded by a smog so heavy that she could barely see what was in front of her.

Hermione was late, as usual. It made Lavender grin to think that anyone thought Hermione was ever on time for anything other than an exam. Parvati followed, holding a stack of legal texts that even _Hermione_ didn't enjoy reading.

Sometimes Lavender thought that it was sad that this was how she spent her Saturday mornings. Still, Lavender had to try (or that was what she was telling herself). They always took the table closest to the bar, and Lavender listened carefully to the case in front of her.

"I just can't run a knife through him," Lavender mumbled.

Parvati rolled her eyes. "You're the Alpha of Great Britain and you want me to explain to you why murder sets a bad tone?"

"Yes, I'm the Alpha and I say I kill Greyback the _werewolf_ way for Professor Lupin and the countless other people he has targeted."

Lavender hadn't set out to become a leader. Not that the werewolf packs cared about that. However, it had been five years since the war, and Lavender still had nightmares about the night she was bitten. If she, their Alpha, was fearful of Greyback, then how could she tell her packs to be brave?

Hermione looked up, a highlighter in her hand. "We need to do better than that. You're the one who agreed to it."

"And I regret it, I should have ripped his throat out when I had the chance."

Parvati looked at Lavender nervously. Lavender had been saying that for a while. How justice would be best served if Lavender took it into her own hands. People didn't know Lavender, not in the way Parvati did. Lavender didn't make idle threats, and she would gladly bear the cross if only to make the burden on others lighter.

It was Lavender who brought them out to the Hog's Head every Saturday, purely because her hate for Fenrir outweighed her need to run away from it all. Greyback had taken parts of Lavender that no one should be able to take. That scared Parvati because Lavender no longer talked about a future with sunshine, but rather how best the various Packs' needs could be met. In order to fully assert her place as Alpha, Lavender needed Greyback gone, and if she could have thrown him to the dementors, she would have done that at the very beginning.

The rules of becoming an Alpha were simple: defeat the previous Alpha. Fenrir had done it by ripping the throat of Enya, the Alpha before him. Lavender had done it in a battle under the full moon, without a drop of Wolfbane coursing through her veins. She had not missed a dose of Wolfsbane after effectively crippling him.

"We wouldn't be in this mess had the Ministry Departments done their job and let Magical Creatures live the way they wanted to," Parvati said, looking critically at Hermione.

That did not sit well with Hermione. "I'm trying, but they have been shutting me down on every end."

"We can just hold council if you give him to us."

"The Ministry doesn't recognise the council."

"Then change it," said Lavender sharply. "That's _your_ job, just like _mine_ is to keep the packs running."

Sometimes Lavender really did want the meetings to end. They were no longer teenagers all after the same boy. No, Lavender had _actual_ responsibilities, and if Hermione wasn't going to pull her weight, then there was no use for having her there.

"Look, the best we can do is appeal to the Ministry and get Hermione to use her clout to lift the Council restrictions on Greyback. Simple." Parvati said.

"That's simple?" Lavender asked. She trusted Parvati too much to allow her to follow through with the idea. It sounded too good to be true. Parvati was a good lawyer; apart from Hermione, she knew the more intricate workings of the Wizarding Legal system. However, trusting the idea was not easy. Not when it sounded this good. "Ten days, I want it done in ten days. Or I'm taking it to the Council."

Ten days hadn't been enough for Hermione and Parvati to get the paperwork to Lavender. Just in time for the full moon. She ate meat, raw, that day in preparation for the task she had to complete. The taste of it made her gag; Lavender had been vegan for years before the **Bite**.

Lavender loved the power she felt as she saw the full moon.

Then the changes came. Painful, long, drawn-out and decidedly not beautiful. Lavender wasn't a pretty werewolf. Not that it mattered. She had the ability to protect her people, and that was what she would do. Greyback, old and weak, smelled the same as he had when he was powerful. When all it took was a low growl to get Lavender to fall on her knees.

The method was quick. As much as she hated the monster, torturing him would not bring her any satisfaction. The Packs had wanted his dead body, and that's what Lavender delivered the next morning. Naked and covered in blood that wasn't hers. The cross would be hers to bear and so would the consequences. For there to be any peace, the Packs came first. That would be Lavender's peace.


End file.
